Post navigation

WDAS: Volume 1

Over this past summer I think I’ve had a bit of a feminist awakening, something that began when I went to Lady Part Justice’s teach-in at The Deep End Club in May. A few months later, I’ve become so much more aware of women in the public eye who are being amazing and kicking ass, so here’s volume one of what I’m going to call Women Doing Awesome Shit, or WDAS for short.

Taylor Swift

1989 is the only album I’ve been listening to for the past few days, and it’ll probably stay that way for the next month. Or maybe the next two months. I’m a converted Taylor Swift fan, and I’m not ashamed to admit it – girl can make really, really great pop music. I have quite a few favorites on there, but Blank Space might be the winner. I would link the track, but her record label has been really good in keeping all of that off the internet, so check out that and the rest of the album on iTunes.

I also love the fact that she’s focusing on herself, readjusted her stance on feminism after she learned more about it, and has formed an impenetrable girl gang that anyone would die to be a part of. She also speaks fluent Tumblr and makes excellent sartorial choices.

Images via E Online

Greta Gerwig

I watched Frances Ha a while ago at the recommendation of a friend, and Lola Versus last night because it seemed like the best option out of all my google/Netflix searches: “movies that are like Girls”, “New York movies”, “best new york movies”, “movies like Tiny Furniture”… you get the gist. Frances Ha is a beautiful and realistic portrayal of female friendships, and at the time that I watched it, it reminded me so much of one of my friendships it was scary. That’s what being eternally single does to you – your life revolves around your friendships and when somebody gets a boyfriend it gets annoying and lonely. Lola Versus was a good one too – kind of like a less glamorous, more grown up version of what I imagine T-Swift’s transition from serial dating to becoming a single, independent woman was like. Lola Versus also takes the win of weirdest sex scene ever portrayed on the big screen, I think. Keep in mind that I’ve watched both volumes of Nymphomaniac (which is another great movie). You’ve been warned, but I thoroughly enjoyed both of those movies.

Image via Refinery29

Leighton Meester

This one seems a little bit out of the blue, mostly because I haven’t really been paying attention to the Gossip Girl gang for a while now. But I saw Of Mice and Men when I was in New York over the summer, which was an amazing experience in of itself, but then Leighton went ahead and penned an amazing piece on her experience playing Curley’s Wife from a feminist perspective. It was an angle that didn’t occur to me immediately after watching the play, and reading the article definitely made me gain respect for her. A few months ago she also covered Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, which is only my favorite song of ALL TIME, with her friend Dana Williams, and dropped a new album called Heartstrings a couple of days ago. In the words of one Sadie Saxton, you’re welcome.